Tag: NPFL

The first in a series of human development workshops for various personnel of clubs in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) will hold on August 16, 2024 for Media Officers of the clubs.

Other scheduled workshops would hold for Coaches, Chief Security Officers, Supporters Club Chairmen and Administrative Managers and Captains.

The Benue State Government is the host of the workshop for Media Officers in Makurdi, the state capital from August 15-16.

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The event has the objective of equipping participants in the use of modern digital tools to enhance their reporting and projection of their respective clubs and by extension, the NPFL.

According to the league organizers, attendance is mandatory, as participants will receive crucial instructions on leveraging media to promote their clubs effectively.

The workshop underscores the significance of media in the growth and success of football as a global business.

By empowering Media Officers with cutting-edge digital tools, NPFL clubs can enhance their visibility, engagement, and overall brand value.

Several faculty enriching workshops have been scheduled by the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) as part of the build-up for the 2024/25 season which kicks off on August 31.

NPFL Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi describes the workshops as the league’s continuous development programme aimed at bringing the various operatives at clubs and in the NPFL Secretariat up-to-date on their professional duties.

The first in the series will be a workshop in Kaduna for Clubs Medical Officers and is being facilitated by a board member and former Super Eagles forward, Daniel Amokachi through his Daniel Amokachi Foundation. The workshop will hold on August 13 and participants are expected in Kaduna on the 12th.

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The second workshop holding in partnership with the Benue State government is for Clubs Media Directors. According to the NPFL curricular for the workshop, the Media chiefs would be lectured on deploying multimedia tools to project their clubs, players and the league in general. They also would be acquainted with the rules guiding public communications, code of conduct and proper handling of internal communication between the NPFL and the clubs.

The last leg of the workshops would hold in Abuja for Club Administrators, Coaches, Captains, Chief Security Officers and Supporters Club Chairmen. This will hold on August 22 with participants arriving on August 21.

Owumi branded the activities “as very intentional plan by the NPFL to instil decorum in the overall conduct of major and active participants in the league operations at all strata.”

Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) and Spanish LaLiga club, Sevilla FC has reached a deal to collaborate on training of Coaches and development of youth football players of NPFL clubs.

The arrangement is part of the globalisation process by the Spanish club to grow its fanbase across the world and particularly to tap into the huge followership which football enjoys in Nigeria. The NPFL thus became a member of Sevilla’s World Club Alliance Program.

By the agreement, the club will provide advice in sporting and other areas of development, with a special focus on coach training and developing the talent of young Nigerian players.

Chairman of the NPFL, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, was in Spain last week to consulate the partnership with José María Del Nido Carrasco, the President of Sevilla FC.

“We are very happy to be able to work with the Nigerian Premier Football League. Sevilla FC is convinced that this alliance can help NPFL clubs to continue improving and encourage the development of youth players.

“It is a new decisive step in our internationalisation process and will help our brand to continue to grow in Africa and particularly in a country like Nigeria from which we are receiving a lot of support after the signing of Chidera Ejuke,” explained José María Del Nido Carrasco.

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In his response at the signing ceremony, Elegbeleye said, “We have 20 clubs in the NPFL and they all have their youth academies.

“I know the history and track record of Sevilla FC. This is a very good club which has won trophies in Spain and Europe for many years. I feel that, with their development strategy and their youth development programme, Nigeria can benefit. We believe that the best players in the Nigeria Youth League will be able to come here every season to train. With your help and training, when they return, they can become better players.”

Elegbeleye also spoke on the aspect of the pact that is beneficial to the NPFL clubs, noting that “we also have a training agreement for our coaches that will be positive for us. It is a win-win arrangement for everyone in the NPFL “.

The NPFL Chairman also noted that the LaLiga club is already gaining traction amongst Nigeria football fans after Super Eagles player; Chidera Ejuke joined the club from Belgian side, Royal Antwerp.

“When they signed Chidera Ejuke from Royal Antwerp, Nigerians showed a lot of interest in Sevilla FC. They now want to know more about Sevilla and the fan base in Nigeria is growing.”

A two week development camp opened in Abuja for the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Youth League All-stars.

The 30 players who arrived camp on Sunday, July 21 and are staying at the Goodluck Jonathan Athletes Performance Hostel inside the FIFA Goal Project of the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

They are made up of seven players from the NPFL Champions, Rangers International Youth Team, six from the NPFL Runners-up and Remo Stars Youth Team, five from winners of the maiden NPFL U17 Youth League, Rivers United. 

The rest are four from Plateau United and Katsina United, two from Lobi Stars and one each from Abia Warriors and Sunshine Stars.

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The players were picked from the five zonal qualifiers which held in February at Lafia, Kaduna, Ado Ekiti, Enugu and Port Harcourt as well as from the finals that held from February 25 to March 3 in Benin.

Some of the very outstanding players went on to be promoted to the senior teams of their respective clubs just as some made it to the National U-17 team that narrowly missed qualification for the AFCON U-17 Championship.

Notable amongst the players in camp are the duo of Oscar Ozornwanfor and Seiyefa Jackson of Rivers United, Chimaobi Igwilo of Rangers and Aigbe Bolaji of Remo Stars. The camp will close on August 3 while there are plans to have the players travel to Spain for further training.

Top scorer in the NPFL this past season Chijioke Mbaoma has been named top star of the league as well as best striker.

The striker fired 17 goals for Enyimba to finish third and will represent Nigeria in the CAF Confederation Cup.

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The awards are under the auspices of the League Bloggers.

Other award winners include Fidelis Ilechukwu Coach of the Season after he led Enugu Rangers to their eighth NPFL title, Sani Suleiman of Akwa United as Rookie of the Year and Golden Eaglets striker and Beyond Limits striker Kparobo Arierhi NNL MVP.

Rangers begin title defence against  El-Kanemi

Rangers International and El-Kanemi Warriors are to play in the star game to kick start the 2024/25 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season, which kicks off on August 31.

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau announced that communication aides would be provided for the Referees to improve officiating in the coming season.

“We have concluded the procurement of communication gadgets that can minimise errors, and these will be available for the new season,” announced before declaring open the AGM.

Gusau also revealed that the NFF would work with international partners to train Referees on the operations of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR)

Chairman of the NPFL, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye, said the league is poised to improve on the gains of the last two seasons.

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“We know that the NPFL still has rooms for improvement, and our objective this season is to build on recent successes,” remarked Elegbeleye in his opening address.

Some former Nigerian football stars were on hand to pick the draws, which will run on a full season format.

They include two former Super Eagles captains, Austin Eguavoen and Peter Rufai, as well Garba Lawal.

Meanwhile, in the other Matchday One fixtures, Lobi Stars will trade tackles with Akwa United while Beyond Limits will mark their debut in the topflight with a home tie against Enyimba in Ikenne though Heartland FC, Sporting Lagos and Wikki Tourists are said to be interested in buying off the slot.

Abia Warriors will tango Remo Stars while Bendel Insurance and Rivers United will rekindle rivalry in a South-South derby at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.

Kano Pillars will have the auspicious honour of hosting Ikorodu City in their first away game in the topflight in Kano; Sunshine Stars will welcome Bayelsa United with Ladan Blossom to Akure while Nasarawa United will mark their return to the premier League with a tough home game against Shooting Stars in Lafia.

Plateau United with Mbwas Mangut finished the season strongly to end in fifth spot and they will face Katsina United in a game billed for Jos.

NPFL 2024-25 MATCH DAY 1 FIXTURES

Lobi Stars Vs. Akwa United

Abia Warriors Vs. Remo Stars

Beyond Limits Vs. Enyimba

Bendel Insurance Vs. Rivers Utd

Kano Pillars Vs. Ikorodu City

Sunshine Stars Vs. Bayelsa Utd

Rangers Vs. El Kanemi Warriors

Nasarawa Utd Vs. Shooting Stars

Plateau Utd Vs. Katsina United

Kwara United Vs. Niger Tornadoes

Ilechukwu gets N1m cash reward

The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has announced a significant increase in the prize money for the upcoming 2024-25 season, with the league champion set to receive N200 million.

It is a N50 million increment from the last season when the league champions, Rangers International FC carted away with N150 million.

This was revealed by NPFL Chairman, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, during the NPFL Annual General Meeting in Abuja yesterday.

The new season is scheduled to kick off on August 31st with a thrilling match between reigning league champions Enugu Rangers and Federation Cup champions El-Kanemi Warriors at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium in Enugu.

Meanwhile, head coach of Rangers International FC, Fidelis Ilechukwu , has been rewarded with one million Naira having emerged  as the Best Coach for the 2023-24 NPFL season.

The presentation took place in Lagos during the NPFL Annual General Meeting (AGM) held yesterday in Abuja.

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Ilechukwu received a cheque of One million Naira in recognition of his outstanding achievement in leading the Flying Antelopes to their eighth NPFL title last season.

The award was presented by NPFL Chairman, Hon. Elegbeleye with  other top management staff of the NPFL, alongside corporate sponsor,  GTI.

Former Super Eagles coach Finidi George has warned that the domestic league players can only be gradually integrated to the senior national team for them to make the desired growth.

During his  brief era as Super Eagles boss, Finidi invited  three  home-based players to the team but only Sadiq Suraj of Remo Stars made it to the field.

While speaking to Brila FM, former Enyimba International coach said it’s a gradual process and it will improve their confidence if they are given the chance to play for the team progressively.

“The local players played, Sodiq came in against Benin Republic in the second half and that was his debut,” Finidi said. “It’s not bad you have to bring them in gradually.

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“During my time, I also had the opportunity to play for 30 minutes and I couldn’t do the magic, it is a gradual process and if I was there a bit longer definitely the introduction to these players bit by bit so that it would give them the confidence to play in the future.”

Finidi George resigned as head coach of the Super Eagles in wake of the team’s lacklustre performance in the Matchday 3 and 4 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and he is presently the head coach of Rivers United.

Strategic partners to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the President Federation Cup (PFC), GTI Asset Management and Trust Limited has confirmed that Rangers International FC of Enugu has received their prize money of N150million for emerging champions of the 2023/2024 NPFL season. 

GTI Head of Media Publicity, Andrew Ekejiuba revealed that winners of the 2024 President Federation Cup (PFC) for men, El-Kanemi Warriors FC also received their prize money of N50million, while the runners up, Abia Warriors FC got N20million.

He further stated that in the women’s category of PFC, winners, Rivers Angels FC received N25million while runners up, Naija Ratels FC of Abuja got the sum of N10million.

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Prize money of N1million was given to each of the awardees in the men and women’s PFC categories which includes Highest Goal Scorer, Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper respectively.

Reacting to the prompt receipt of their prize monies, some Chairmen/CEO’s of the aforementioned award-winning clubs and individuals commended GTI, NPFL and NFF for the timely payment of the prize monies in the outgone season.

In his submission, Enugu Rangers GM/CEO, Amobi Ezeaku expressed delight after receiving their club’s prize money which according to him will assist the team prepare adequately for their continental engagement next season.

 “On behalf of the management and players of Enugu Rangers Football Club, we want to express our appreciation to the NFF, NPFL and their strategic partners GTI Group for upholding the integrity of financial commitment to the Champion of the league. We are glad we got our prize money at a record time to enable us to plan for next season. Frankly, it shows that we are truly in a new dawn in our elite league following the successful completion of the 2023/2024 season,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Enugu Rangers gaffer, Fidelis Ilechukwu thumbed up the strategic impact of GTI Group’s initiative towards the restructuring of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) and assured that his team are busy in the transfer market in a bid to acquire fresh legs to fortify the squad ahead of their continental engagement next season.

Meanwhile, in a separate interview with GTI, the Chairman of Naija Ratels FC, runners up in the PFC Women’s category, Allison Ene James commended the NFF for staging a hitch-free competition and praised their strategic partners GTI on their commitment in repositioning Nigeria football ecosystem.

Lagos will host the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), which will deliberate on the 2024/25 season scheduled to start on August 31, 2024.

And towards the August kick-off date, some clubs have been directed to carry out remedial works to ensure that their grounds meet Facility Requirements of the Club Licensing Regulations.

In a letter to the clubs dated July 2, Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer, felicitated the clubs on the successful completion of the last season and extended the invitation for the AGM.

“I write to convey the warm wishes of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Board and Management and to congratulate member clubs for the successful completion of the 2023/24 season.

“It is in working towards the new season’s earnest preparations and take-off on August 31, 2024, that the Board has elected to invite member clubs for the AGM on a tentative date of July 15-16 in Lagos”, the letter to the clubs read.

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The NPFL informed the clubs through the letter that a number of them have been told about the unacceptable conditions of their playing turf and the absence of broadcast support facilities such as elevated camera stands.

“As we look forward to the meeting, letters have been written to some of the clubs whose facilities were found not suitable to host the NPFL matches in the new season in compliance with provisions of Facility requirements of the Club Licensing Regulations”, noted Owumi who urged the clubs not in receipt of the letters to embark on a self-review of their facilities to ensure they met requirements for approval.

Abia Warriors, Sunshine Stars, Shooting Stars, and Kwara United are among the clubs that have been directed to work on defects in their stadium.

The others are Niger Tornadoes, Plateau United, and the newly promoted El-Kanemi Warriors.

They were ordered to upgrade their playing turf or face the prospect of playing on alternative grounds.